Tea with Moody
by Marina Floyr
Summary: A 'missing scene' from GoF, involving Neville and his fears of the cruciatus curse. My first attempt at something other than a fic. please R/R


Tea with Moody  
  
The full moon shone softly from the single window in the 4th year boys' dormitory, casting odd shadows about the room. It was unusually quiet tonight, but then again, if the sole boy awake had been asleep, the sound of soft snoring would have filled the room. He was indeed far from dreaming, fingers gripped around the edges of a worn book cover. Neville watched the thin strip of moonlight from between his maroon bed curtains, which reminded him of last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus J. Lupin. It had been easier to fall asleep, he thought, when lessons were about Boggarts looking like Snape in his Gran's clothing rather than the Unforgivables.one in particular.  
  
Mind flooded with too much at once, Neville squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to clear the swirl of thoughts, but no sooner did the image of spindly flailing black legs fill them, and the echoing cry of "Cruico"...followed by the blank, sterile walls and silence of a hospital ward....and the two pale, equally silent and expressionless forms that were his parents. His eyes shot open, wide and moist again, knuckles white where they clutched Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. Shivering, Longbottom pushed himself up to a sitting position, fumbling for the wand beside his pillow. His hand brushed against something cold and slimy, and he let out somewhat of a girlish shriek which pierced the stillness.  
  
"Oh..." he murmured after a moment, still gasping "oh...it's...it's just you Trevor." In his fears, he had nearly forgotten about his toad. Picking up his wand, he whispered "Lumos" and the tip emitted a fairly bright white light. If the boy could do anything without mishaps, he made sure before anything it was this simple charm that would never fail. It was perhaps foolish for a fourteen-year-old wizard to be afraid of the dark, but Neville was afraid of numerous things.  
  
Turning over on his stomach and flipping open the book's cover, Neville flipped though the yellowed pages featuring wavering pictures of gillyweed, spotted-sedge and other aquatic greenery by wand light. Soon immersed in his favorite subject, he forgot all about the afternoon in Professor Moody's office.  
  
***  
  
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.  
  
A haggard figure, known so well as possibly the most peculiar and gruff Defense against the Dark Arts teacher Hogwarts had seen yet, led Neville down the 2nd floor hallway in silence. True, Mad-eye had been a famous auror. True, they knew he had put so many Dark Wizards into Azkaban. True- he knew...he knew the deepest fears of the boy. It wasn't difficult of course, judging from the way that Neville had been trembling all over during class while transfixed he watched the spider jiggle under the influence of the Cruciatus Curse.  
  
"Take you hands out of your pockets boy, makes people jumpy thinkin' you've got something in there" croaked Moody's growl of a voice. Neville looked up, blinking, to find himself staring at the back of the professor's head. That eye could see backwards, he had almost forgotten. It also seemed that magical eyeball could worm its sight line deeper into his head, see every last thing that jolted him.  
  
"Yes professor.." the boy nodded quickly, nearly tripping over a bump in the carpet that a clawed wooden leg has just made. His face was red, flushed, as it got whenever he was corrected (which was usually quite often). They slowly reached the end of a corridor and again Moody took him by the shoulder, guiding him inside his office and into a chair. The door closed. Grey hair draping over half his face, Moody turned and gave Neville a gentle version of his toothy smile, hobbling over to his desk and leaning against it. He gave a great groan, magic eye turning to what seemed like a clouded mirror on the opposite side of the room.  
  
"You all right now Neville?" Grunting apprehensively, Moody took his large key ring out and unlocked the third lock on his trunk. He retrieved a kettle and a teacup, conjuring a suspended fire to heat the water.  
  
"I.I think so professor"  
  
"Longbottom" he rasped in his croaky aged voice "son of Frank then, you are?" Squinting to keep the burning in his eyes from letting loose, Neville barely nodded. "Never, never thought I'd get to see his boy. Your father was indeed, an auror who hangs in my memory. Man knew.really knew how to keep his silence." There was a deadened pause. Neville stared, going numb in his chair.  
  
"Frank.Frank had a noble bravery to him. Stubborn.as I. Courageous traits I the bloodline that probably got you placed in the Gryffindor house." Moody continued. Neville nodded stiffly again. The hat had said, four years before, that reasoning behind his sorting did lie in his family line. Among the further distress of his failures always came a sinking feeling that he had shamed himself and his gran, whose howlers were becoming weekly inconveniences, but also his parents. Though they'd never know about his abysmal potions marks, guilt made a lump form in his throat. "But from what I've heard from Professor Sprout you would have done quite well in Huffl-" Neville's shaky voice suddenly interrupted Moody in a low murmur, but it was something that made him stop, both eyes moving to fix on the boy.  
  
"You.you caught tho-those dark wizards who hurt my dad and mum yourself, didn't you professor?" Neville quaked in a mixture of awe, fear and sadness. Silence filled the room again, except for the low hum of a dark detector. Moody's magical eye swiveled to fix on his trunk again.  
  
"Barty Crouch put up a good fight" he growled flatly, before his voice grew louder as a scowl formed over his scarred features "Never, Longbottom, NEVER underestimate the powers of the Dark Lord and his followers, do you hear me boy? That.that was your parent's mistake". His expression hardened, harsh and bitter, turning his face sour. Neville's eyes grew round, tears stinging them as he searched for a bit of sympathy on that worn face. He couldn't read the expression as his vision blurred, face grew hot, and then before he knew it, burst forth in a strangled cry.  
  
"I hate them.them death eaters! My mum and dad couldn't even tell them nothing if they would have, Gran says! But they had to go.go" he took a great shuddering breath, gradually turning a pale white "put that.that Cruciatus curse on them, just like.just like those spiders!"  
  
"Worse" snapped Moody coldly before his tone lowered to a soft, almost dangerous tone "Spiders don't scream". Neville was sobbing by that time, back of his hands wiping at his eyes, entirely missing the twisted sort of grim smile that twitched it's way onto Moody's face for a half second. His eyes flashed again, the larger one rotating wildly within his head now, as he lurched forward to place both gnarled hands on Neville's shoulders with a surprisingly strong grip for a man so old. "Listen to me boy, that mistake, that mistake on the part of the Dark Lord's most faithful servant, was one he most grievously paid for, let me assure you." he snarled over the boy's whimpering and quailing below his gaze.  
  
"What those four death eaters did to my parents was worse then what happened to Harry's! That last spider didn't shake and jerk around twitch like that!" Neville finally howled out in a shriek, tears pouring down his cheeks in great floods. At the mention of Potter's name Moody seemed to freeze, both eyes darting to the foe glass on the wall, to the door, to the trunk, and then back to the boy who was by now in hysterics. Panic seemed to sink in after a moment, and then he quickly stepped backward, wooden leg banging against the desk. Taking out his wand he cast a quick cheering charm on Neville, frowning dully once more.  
  
"Eh..eh.calm down my boy, it's alright now.shhh.come now, your tea's ready" he coaxed gruffly, reaching for the hanging teapot to pour a cup for Neville and nearly thrusting the saucer at him. Hands shaking, Neville took it gingerly and looked back up at his professor in embarrassment, face flushed. Gradually he calmed enough to take a sip of the hot liquid, and Moody had downed his hip flask rather than taken any tea. They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the floor. Neville finally spoke.  
  
"You.you're not going to give me detention for yelling like that.are you professor?" he murmured timidly, and Moody merely shrugged, still appearing slightly bewildered.  
  
"Perfectly understandable, my dear boy, for you to express your emotions."  
  
"Professor Snape would have-"  
  
"I don't give a damn what Professor Snape does" his lip curled somewhat at the mention of Snape. At this, a weak smile crossed Neville's face.  
  
"He made me disembowel horned toads last night professor." A subconscious whine wormed it's way into his voice, a plea for sympathy "Last time he only made me label some Boomslang skin jars and lizard lips and stuff for detention, but disembo-"  
  
"Boomslang skin, did you say?" repeated Moody suddenly, arching a brow curiously.  
  
"Yes sir" nodded Neville "and Hermione Granger had to do a scouring charm to get-" he paused, and watched Professor Moody pace back and forth, muttering to himself a bit.  
  
"You know, I've got the right mind to check out what else he's got down in that office of his one of these days" Moody growled, leg clunking as an undertone to his muttering. Finally, he reached over and picked up a book from the side table. It had a blue-green cover, and letters curled in a rippling text on the front cover. "But as I was saying before Longbottom, I was in the staff room yesterday, and couldn't help overhearing what Professor Sprout had to say about you to Professor McGonagall. It seems that you strength lies in Herbology. She said you're especially good at it my boy, a real talent you showed with the bubotubers earlier this week"  
  
Neville smiled, blushing a bit around the ears. There was a strange paternal type of ring in Moody's low voice now, and the tea had warmed his hands so that they weren't so clammy anymore. "Well, like I always say, it's a good bit of advice to play to your strengths. Learn as much as you can in that field, and those top marks'll pull all your grades up. You could even earn a few points for Gryffindor, I reckon, if you did a bit of extra studying" Neville beamed hearing this bit of praise, pride swelling in his chest. He was good at something, wasn't he? And imagine how pleased his classmates, and even his Gran would be if he had started earning points for Gryffindor rather than loosing them. As soon as he was handed the book, he eagerly flipped it open.  
  
Moody leaned on his desk once more, whisking away the tea with a flick of his wand. "Study that book carefully Longbottom, get familiar with all the magical properties of the flora in there.it'll help you a bit in potions too, no doubt." he added with a slight smirk, strumming his fingers against the desk. Neville looked up with a grateful smile, eyes still puffy eyes as he stood up from his chair.  
  
"Oh thank you professor! I will professor" he nodded frivolously. Moody smiled, cracking the knuckles on his withered fingers.  
  
"Good for you then Longbottom, I'm glad to be of some help in my old age. We won't be doing anymore with the Cruciatus curse in class I think.this yours?" he bent down with a groan and scooped up a toad from the floor by his trunk. Neville looked abashed and held out his hand  
  
"Yup, that's Trevor, always getting out of my pocket" he chuckled weakly. Moody arched a brow thoughtfully, odd smile reappearing and then placed the toad on his desk instead. "I can have him back professor, can't I?" he said hesitantly.  
  
"What I wonder" mused Moody aloud, "is how bold you actually are Neville" then, without warning he turned his wand to the toad.  
  
Neville's jaw dropped, freezing with one hand on the doorknob. No.not again. He wasn't going to do it again. "What are doing professor?" he breathed, going white again. He barely got these words out when a snarl of Crucio! brought Trevor to a wildly croaking, writhing state. Moody's normal eye was on the toad, with a concentration of what seemed to be menace. The other seemed to penetrate right to Neville's head, seeing his fears spring up once more. He couldn't bear to look at his beloved pet jerkily twitching like that spider, but his eyes forced him to. His mouth was very dry again, but this time the paralysis didn't last long.  
  
"NO PROFESSOR MOODY! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Neville cried, horrorstruck, and before he knew what he was doing his wand was out of his robes, pointed at Moody. "Expellarmus! Expell-i-armus!" he shrieked, and the curse was dropped by the time he had bellowed out the charm for the second time. Trevor leapt off the desk shuddered on the floor.. The disarming spell hadn't work, but Moody had put an end to it himself, now watching Neville with a calm gaze  
  
"Correct intentions boy.when an unforgivable curse is placed, you don't just stand there with you eyes wide." he growled.  
  
Breathless, Neville scooped up his toad with a gape of disbelief "I can't believe you'd-". It just didn't make sense, and it wasn't fair, testing his courage by torturing his toad  
  
"A lesson you have to learn Longbottom, I'm sorry. You have to be ready, on your toes. But I see I doubted your courage boy, you are indeed, sharper than they say you are." Neville sighed, head swimming with confusion. He never had a teacher who told him that, not even professor Lupin. The praise again lifted his heart for a moment, but still left him questioning. Truly this teacher was mad.  
  
"Might want to work on your disarming pronunciation though" He gave a dry laugh. It looked like amusement, dancing in his wild eyes. "No, it's not pretty, the dark arts, is it? Better that you boys learn to feel the seriousness of that power so young."  
  
Uncertainly Neville gathered up the book in his hands, stroking Trevor's back. He could feel it's little heartbeat faster than ever, faster than even his own.  
  
"Yes professor.thank you again professor" He hurried back out into the corridor, perplexed. No, it wasn't pretty at all. His hands shook as he headed back up to Gryffindor tower, and he remained stunned into a melancholy silence that lasted throughout the day. Neville decided that the only thing that made sense anymore was Herbology class. And so, curled up by the fire, he began to read.  
  
.and still he read on, long into the stillness of the night, the only thing left to pacify the perplexing, frightening encounter. 


End file.
